Assistant Psychologist in Inpatient Neurorehabilitation

Job Overview
An opportunity has arisen for a committed and motivated part time assistant psychologist to work in an Inpatient Neurorehabilitation unit. This is a fast paced unit with 20 rehab beds. The psychology team work alongside the MDT in all stages of the rehab pathway, providing assessment and intervention to individuals and groups. We are looking for a hard working individual, who is keen to develop their clinical and research skills.

This Post is externally funded for 12 months.
Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will have a role in assessing new referrals to the pathway, contributing to psychological formulations and having a small caseload of clients to support along the pathway. The postholder will also assist with group interventions and workshops.

The postholder will be required to maintain a large database of information relating to the psychological component of the pathway and will be expected to liaise with members of the wider rehab MDT regarding psychological factors impacting on engagement with rehabilitation.

There is opportunity to be involved in service related research and projects.

Working for our organisation

We are a small and friendly team and work hard to provide the very best care we can. We are part of a wider Clinical Health Psychology Team and the postholder will be encouraged to attend peer support with other assistant psychologists in this team.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• Assisting in MDT assessments
• Administering psychological questionnaires to individuals on the rehab pathway
• Contributing to the Brain Injury Education and Mindfulness group
• Contributing to MDT discussions
• Provide short term evidence based interventions to patients
• To work according to trust risk management and safeguarding guidelines
• To work with a degree of autonomy in a fast paced service, and to be able to manage competing demands
• To contribute to ongoing research projects
• To carry out service related research/audit

Person specification

Training & Qualifications
Essential criteria

• An upper second (2:1) undergraduate degree (or above) in psychology.
• Entitlement to graduate membership of the British Psychological Society.

Desirable criteria

• Further postgraduate training in neuropsychology, clinical health psychology, rehabilitation psychology, or research methods

Experience
Essential criteria

• Experience working with adults with acquired brain injury, neurological conditions, or complex cognitive and behavioural difficulties in an inpatient neurorehabilitation or other related clinical setting.
• Experience using computers for databases, outcome measurement, and data analysis

Desirable criteria

• Experience of direct patient care and assessment in a clinical health or neurorehabilitation context.
• Experience contributing to multidisciplinary team discussions and collaborative care planning.
• Experience conducting or supporting clinical audit, service evaluation, or outcome monitoring.
• Experience working with patients, families, and staff in emotionally complex or highdependency settings.

Knowledge And Skills
Essential criteria

• High-level communication skills (written and verbal), with the ability to work effectively in highly emotive settings.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information to patients with cognitive or communication difficulties, as well as to families and colleagues
• Willingness to learn the neuropsychological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural needs of patients in neurorehabilitation.
• Understanding of the biopsychosocial model and its application to neurorehabilitation, including the integration of cognitive, emotional, and social factors in patient care
• Ability to support the delivery of neuropsychological assessments and interventions within a biopsychosocial framework

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of psychology applied to neurorehabilitation and physical health care.
• Graduate-level understanding of research methodology, outcome measurement, and data analysis, including SPSS and Excel.
• Experience and skill in report writing, service evaluation, and contributing to evidence based clinical practice.
• Competence in using IT packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) to support clinical work, audits, and presentations.
• Motivation to apply neuropsychological principles to support recovery and rehabilitation in an inpatient setting.

PERSONAL

Essential criteria

• An ability to interact effectively with staff from all disciplines.
• An ability to interact with people with mental health problems and disabilities.
• Ability to work in a fast paced work environment and prioritise competing demands.
• Ability to work reliably and consistently with work agreed and supervised at regular intervals.

Desirable criteria

• An interest in working with people with mental health problems or other disabilities.